


Scary stories in the dark

by Yellowshoes18



Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:42:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27292135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yellowshoes18/pseuds/Yellowshoes18
Summary: Ben is back from London, Madders ropes them into a Halloween party at Perez's house. Late that night, when it's just them, plus Ayoze and Dennis Praet, there's a power cut. What else to do on halloween during a power cut than tell scary stories?Started as a drabble but quickly became longer than I planned! It's spooky season so enjoy some of that, some fluff, some flirtation.Usual disclaimer - None of this is real. It's not intended to harm anybody or cause offence.
Relationships: Ben Chilwell & James Maddison, Ben Chilwell/James Maddison, dennis praet/ayoze perez
Kudos: 18





	Scary stories in the dark

Madders was less smiley this morning, for the last couple of weeks he'd been almost back to his usual self. They were back from Athens, a good win under their belt. Something had set him off though this morning. Ayoze tapped him on the shoulder. 

He forced a smile, chirped out a "Morning señor" and hugged the Spaniard.

"Madders, what's wrong?" 

"Am I that transparent?"

Ayoze shrugged, smiled in a way he hoped would look sympathetic, "We've been hanging out enough for me to know if you’re sad."

"Be--Chilly's coming back this weekend. First time since...you know. Said we should hang out." Madders held up his phone, the message sitting there. In Leicester Saturday. ‘We should catch up?’. Casual, something you'd send to a mate. It sat there read but unanswered.

"Ok, and that's not good?" 

"Nah, he's made it sound like a just friends thing. And I'm not sure I'm ready to be alone with him yet. As friends. I know us, we can't be trusted."

Ayoze nodded in agreement, thinking as he changed into his training clothes.

"Well, it's Halloween. Say you're going to a party or something."

"He'll just ask whose party. We have pretty much all the same friends apart from my boys back home but they all love him, he'd still expect an invite." Madders chewed his lip, cocked his head the way he did whenever he wanted something.

"Madders…"

"You could throw a party, get all the squad over, team bonding and all that? That way he could come and it would be fine. Just friends hanging out."

"I...I had plans." Ayoze was hesitant.

"What like? Horror films on the sofa with a particular blonde Belgian?" 

"Yeah. Kinda." 

Madders hated what he was about to do, but a party would be good. Harmless. It was what casual friends did.

“Ayo...you know you’re my bro...”

“Ugh, fine,” Ayo threw back his head dramatically, “But you’re helping me set up and sorting out inviting people!”

****

Madders made sure he arrived at Ayo's early. He wanted to feel that he had the upper hand here. Which he did to be fair, he'd spent a lot of time in Ayo's house since the end of August. The striker's house was big, modern and a great bachelor pad while his own house was being finalised. The winger had been a great friend since Ben left. Cheering him up, keeping his mind off it and not talking about how smitten he was with a certain blonde.

Considering how late the Spaniard agreed to put this together, he'd gone all out on decorations. Skull bunting hung all down the hallway, there were pumpkins of different sizes and colours everywhere lining the edges of the rooms and giant spiders hanging from the ceiling. A human sized skeleton, arms outstretched cackled and lit up as he stepped in front of it. He jumped back, letting out a small squeal. That made a giggling Ayoze appear. 

"Wow." The Spaniard took in his costume. Given Madders had guilted him into this, he'd made it mandatory fancy dress in return. 

The winger stood back and did a spin. He’d gone full Indiana Jones, hat and all, opting for the policy of the tighter the better on everything, leaving two buttons open on the shirt, chest bare beneath.

“You even have a whip!” the Spaniard pointed at the whip hanging from Madders’ slim hips.

“Go big or go home!”

“You mainly went for the costume because of the whip, right?”

Madders winked and they laughed. Ayoze had opted for a Dracula costume, black and red cape swooshing behind him, hair slicked back, collar up high and some killer fake fangs in his mouth. The pair hugged and Madders offered his help in finishing setting up.

"Help me make the punch alcoholic?" Ayo pointed to the biggest bowl Madders had ever seen.

"You made a non alcoholic punch?" 

"No, Denni took over and he doesn't want us getting too drunk during the season. But what he doesn't know, right?" 

"He's ok with me...with everyone crashing your Saturday night?"

"I am so long as he keeps the cape on in bed later," Dennis had silently appeared from the kitchen, holding bowls of healthy looking, albeit halloween shaped foods. He gave the Spaniard a slap on the bum as he took the food to the table.

Madders shot Ayoze a look. The Spaniard's attention was firmly on the suited Belgian though. He understood the appeal. Dennis had played his outfit card well; Daniel Craig's Bond from Spectre, skull suit and top hat. He’d not yet put on the mask, eyes dazzling bright blue as usual. The tailored trousers were tight around his thighs and behind and Ayo was definitely distracted when he bent over and the jacket tails exposed this.

"I'm err, gonna go set up something near the pool table. And sort out the music..." Madders made his excuse, leaving Dracula and Bond to eye fuck each other.

****

Ben turned up around an hour into the party. Nowhere near the first but not as late as some of the younger Leicester contingent (everybody assumed Harvey, Hamza and Justin were pre-drinking heavily somewhere). He tried to look confident as he made his way through a house he'd never been in. Getting anywhere took time though, everybody wanted to stop him, ask how Chelsea was, congratulate him or catch up. Everybody it seemed but Madders, where was he?!

The defender was frustrated after twenty minutes. No sight of Madders. He was pulling out his phone to ring when a hand grabbed his shoulder. Spinning around, forgetting about the prop axe in his hand, he almost whacked the other man dead on the nose.

"Hey Chilly, I said fancy dress, not murder party!" Ayoze saw the funny side of the near injury and they hugged. 

"You make a good Patrick Bateman, Chilly," Dennis Praet was behind Ayoze.

"Thanks. I like your look too, Bond from Spectre, right? The day of the dead sequence." Ben shook Dennis' hand, the Belgian tapping him on the back. He made a decent James Bond in that suit.

Ben hid his surprise when the Belgian draped an arm over Ayo’s shoulder and straightened out his collar. Perhaps it was paranoia, but he’d half expected Madders had invited him to this party to prove that he and the Spaniard were sleeping together. He’d always suspected without his presence, that had been an option. And he knew how much time they’d been spending together since his absence. The Belgian and the Spaniard being so intimate was unexpected. He smiled. So Madders isn’t seeing anybody. 

“Thanks for inviting me, have you seen-”

“Madders? Yeah, he and Wilf have claimed my pool table for a Halloween special tournament. Follow me.”

Before Ben could follow Ayoze, Dennis’ hand was on his arm, a tight grip.

The Belgian made sure to say it discreetly, “If you’ve come to hurt him again, don’t. You haven’t seen him since August, I have. Make a choice, Ben.”

Ben smiled should anybody be observing them and shook off the contact, jogging off in pursuit of the Spaniard. He didn’t glance back, didn’t have to look to know that Dennis was tracking him, probably chatting about him in French with the other Belgians who’d appeared.

Ayo nodded to the pool table when Ben caught up. Madders hadn’t spotted him yet, too wrapped up in taking his shot. From the lack of balls left on the table, and Ndidi’s tensed face, it looked like another Maddison victory was close. The room went quiet as the blonde lined up his shot, netting the 8-ball. He threw the cue down, running around the table screaming before cracking his whip on the table and grabbing the annoyed looking Ndidi. 

Pure joy. Just stepping into this area, the air felt lighter, the mood a little happier and everybody was watching James. Admiration, a love for the gloating blonde. Ben took a deep breath, he’d missed this. Him. That laugh, the puppy-like energy.

It was only when Madders let go of the Nigerian, head coming down from being thrown back in a cackle laughter, that he clocked a ghost next to Ayoze. A ghost that had haunted him for the last ten weeks. Except ghosts aren’t real. 

Ben smiled and put up his hand to wave. Madders drew breath, cocking his head to take in a sight for sore eyes. They both moved to meet in the middle. Ayoze backed off a little, but Ben felt his presence, watching. 

“Hey Indy, nice whip!” Ben laughed as the two shared a hug of sorts. It felt a little awkward and Madders had to check himself at the smell of Ben’s aftershave.

“You look amazing,” he quickly corrected himself, “Great costume choice I mean. The fake blood and the axe really finish it off. I love American Psycho.”

“I know.”

The two descended into a silence, but their eyes were locked onto one another. There weren’t any words, but they both caught a sense of longing, of apologies, of too many things left unsaid over the last ten weeks. It was Madders who broke the silence, had to remember where they were, who else was here. Even if it felt like everybody else had melted away.

“London looks good on you, Chilly,” he tapped his arm, “You look really happy.”

“Yeah...London’s good, I feel settled in already.”

Madders tried not to read into that, “You want some punch?”

“What’s in it?” 

“Well, Dennis made it fruity and Ayo asked me to spike it,” Madders rubbed his chin, about to make a confession, “I just emptied whatever was in the bar into it. So I guess...everything?”

“James Maddison, you trying to get me drunk?” Ben laughed, tension drifting away.

“You know me better than anybody, you tell me,” he’d taken a risk by saying that. 

Maybe the two glasses of punch he’d panic drunk were getting to him. Ben didn’t reply straight away, he pursed his lips and nodded slowly.

“Yeah, I do. Lead the way, JM10.”

****

Despite Ayo wanting to keep the pair in sight, Ben and Madders were inseparable the rest of the night. They made frequent trips to the punch table, played some pool, admired Ayo’s shirt collection and spent half an hour laid out on some sun-loungers the Spaniard had forgotten to put away in the garden. 

It was peaceful outside, just them, music and chatter faintly in the background. They would have been interrupted, Ayoze worried that this was what Madders wanted to avoid, was ready to gatecrash their moment but Dennis and Youri stopped him. The pair needed this time, they needed to talk. The Spaniard couldn’t protect Madders from this bit. 

It hadn’t been a conscious decision but as the night got later, the numbers dwindled. Some had other party commitments, plans the next day, some just migrated elsewhere. By the time it was close to 2am, the house was much quieter. The music was still playing, but there weren’t many people left. Ayo, Dennis, Madders and Chilly were in the Spanird’s living room on the big sunken, circular seating area.

Old habits die hard. Madders had done it without thinking, immediately plonking himself down next to Chilly. He did have the foresight not to cuddle up to him but they didn’t have much space between them either. On the opposite side, Dennis was stretched out and Ayoze’s legs were tangled over his, the Spaniard’s hand stroking the Belgian’s leg. Ben made a mental note to ask when this had happened later.

They’d been chatting for an hour, no punch left so they’d found some emergency rum and bottles of beer. They’d slipped into conversation about Chelsea, asking Ben how he was getting on with the other new signings. 

Madders couldn’t help himself, “Must be fun to play with a player like Kai Havertz?”

“Oh Kai is amazing, he’s so talented. What a guy!” Ben was grinning.

“Yeah, he really does look like the next big thing,” Dennis replied. 

“I’m going to use your bathroom!” Ben sprung up, brushing Madders’ leg with his hand in the effort. 

Madders waited until he was around the corner to faceplant the sofa and groan. 

“All this time I was worried he was banging Mount and I needed to worry about the male vampire model. Ugh, of course he likes Kai Havertz,” Madders voice was muffled from being squished against the sofa.

“I mean, he might still be sleeping with Mount,” Dennis replied, sipping his drink. 

Ayoze shot him a look of death, trying to re-neutralise his face as Madders sat up, teary-eyed.

“I just meant he isn’t sleeping with Kai,” the Belgian shrugged, only continued when two pairs of eyes met him with a baffled stare, “Dortmund signed Thomas Meunier., remember? Belgian friends. Meunier said Julian Brandt has been pining after Havertz now he’s in England. They’re a big thing or something.”

“You should have led with that!” Ayo poked Dennis who protested, before he leaned over towards Madders, “I’m not saying Mount isn’t something to worry about, but I’ve seen Chilly looking at you tonight. I’m not sure this is as casual as you think it is, or he said it is.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Well have you asked why he’s come back to Leicester if it’s not for you? There’s nothing else here for him now,” Dennis smiled, squeezing Ayo’s knee. 

Madders nodded, thankful for the pair’s hopeful outlook. He was thinking of how to respond when the music cut out and all of the lights went out.

“Shit!”

“Is it a fuze?” Dennis’ voice spoke out.

“No, the streetlights are out too,” Ayoze replied.

None of them could see their hands in the darkness, eyes slow to adjust. At last Madders’ found his phone and put the torch on, blinding the other men. From upstairs, they heard a bang and a crash. Then a cry.

“Guys...i can’t see anything!” Chilwell yelled.

“We’re still in here, just move slowly, there’s a lot of pumpkins on the floor!” Madders replied, shining the torch out into the hallway.

“It’ll come back on soon, right?” Ben cried, his voice sounded closer.

“Sure. I’ll light a candle,” the sound of shuffling must have been Ayoze getting up and leaving the room.

“Oh, shit,” Ben’s voice called out as he tripped over the sofa, knocking the phone out of Madder’s hand and killing the only light source.

“Here we go!” 

Ayo lit the candle, illuminating the room again. Dennis just about held in a chuckle as the scene lit before them. Chilly was on top of Madders, where he’d fallen. Both men looked awkward as the defender climbed off and sat normally. The group shifted into silence for a moment. Madders retrieved his whip from the floor.

“I’ll just put it there...”

More silence. Waiting for the lights to come back on. Madders could feel Ben next to him, warm, close, so tempting.

“I don’t think they’re coming back on yet. It’s halloween, we’ve got fire light...sort of,” Ayo shrugged at the candle, “Why don’t we tell some ghost stories?”

“Only if you tell us a Spanish ghost story,” Dennis pulled Ayo to him by the collar of his cape for a kiss.

“I’m not sure, I don’t really like ghost stories...” Madders replied.

“I think it’s a good idea. Start us off, Ayo!” Ben was staring Madders in the face as he answered.

“Well, I don’t want to scare you too much but in Spain there’s La chica de la curva,” he was leaning forward for effect, Madders was thankful that his accent was cute enough to take some of the edge off the exaggerated pronunciation.

“It’s an old urban legend. A man is driving, alone. It’s late at night, he’s on edge. Excited, scared, tense. He isn’t familiar with the road, it’s the countryside so there’s no lights. There’s no other cars either. Just black either side of him, in front, and behind. His car’s headlights only light so far ahead and he’s squinting, nervously taking all the bends and curves of the road.”

“Can’t be much darker than this,” Madders adds nervously. He’s trying not to tense up.

“Why is he out in the middle of nowhere at 2am? Any good man would be at home, in bed with somebody he loves,” Ayo turned to face Dennis at this point, plunging half of his face into shadow, “He thinks the darkness, the lack of witnesses make what he’s doing better. He’s driving home from a hotel, where he met his mistress. He spent a lot of money on room service and champagne, they had sex, he paid for the room and left her there.”

“Ahh I don’t like this, bad guys always get killed first in ghost stories!” 

Ben chuckled at Madders, slapped his leg and casually draped an arm over the back of the sofa, behind the winger. 

“So he’s driving, he’s been driving for ages but he doesn’t feel like he’s getting any closer to home. The bends start to blur into one and he wonders if he’s been driving in circles. He forgot his sat nav so he doesn’t know how much longer until he’s home. His radio crackles, but it’s not switched on. He blames it on the crappy old car, punches the dashboard, taking his eyes off the road for a moment...” Ayoze paused again for dramatic effect, light flickering on his face in time with the candle.

“He only looked down for a moment but when he looks back up, fuck, there’s somebody in the road! He sees a flash of white, long black hair, and he has to throw the steering wheel right to swerve. His car skids and he fights for control, braking. He brings the car to a stop, breathless, certain he didn’t hit them. Didn’t hit her, he was sure it was a woman. Out here on her own in the middle of the road? He checks his mirror, too dark to see.”

“Ah, I really don’t like this,” Madders said quietly.

“Shhh!” Dennis laughed, patting Ayo’s knee to continue. 

“He reverses slowly, until he can see the shadow. He stops the car. She isn’t moving. It gets cold in Spain at night, out here, maybe she got lost. Maybe she’s hurt. He gets out of the car, walks towards the figure slowly. She’s facing him and she’s just standing there...he calls out to her but it’s only when he gets closer. She’s young, and she’s only wearing a thin white nightdress. She says just one word ‘Help!’.’”

“No no, this is how it all goes downhill, just get back in the car man!” Madders was definitely invested in this.

“He takes off his jacket, wraps it around her slim figure, finds himself admiring her figure, her face. Pale but beautiful. He walks her to his car, tells her he can help. He’ll drive her home but they just need to warm her up first. Back in the car, she’s quiet. She seems to be grateful for the jacket, for the heat, but when he asks what’s wrong, she’s quiet.”

They waited for the Spaniard to continue. 

“He starts to drive, hopes she’ll tell him where he should be going. ‘I live near you’ she whispers. He’s confused, he’s sure they haven’t met before, he’d remember her. He asks her to confirm and she tells him she lives in the town they’re driving towards, he must do too. Otherwise, what is he doing out here? He has no answer for that. They drive on in silence, him stealing glances at her, the night dress riding high, her thighs visible, slim and goose pimpled. He asks her name, ‘Laura’ is the response. He tries making small talk, but she’s just staring straight ahead, so he focuses on driving again.”

The candle threatened to go out, adding to the mood.

“As they approach another sharp bend, she winces, grips his knee, ‘Be careful, these roads are dangerous, this part of the road gets icy, tires slip. Somebody died here.’. He frowns, looks at her again, she seems even paler, he asks if she knows the person in the car crash, are they ok? She’s quiet again, but turns to stare at him, ‘No, I died’.”

“Oh, fuck no, do not like this one bit. She’s dead?!”

“He feels himself going cold, the car suddenly feels icy cold and he can see his breath. He says he doesn’t understand. ‘I died on this road. My boyfriend crashed our car. He lived, I did not. He was able to carry on, a new life with his mistress. I’m trapped here.’ He thinks she’s crazy, thinks she’s having a nervous breakdown but she’s still staring, she’s closer to him now and it’s so cold. She’s talking about how he’s not a good person, that he hurts people, that he doesn’t deserve to live. He’s trying to reason with her but she’s not stopping. He’s losing control of the car now and he yells, goes to grab her but poof,” Ayo clapped his hands together, making Madders and Ben jump.

“She’s gone, he’s just grasping at air. Slamming on the brakes, he stops. It’s silent, he’s alone and it’s even darker. He picks up his phone, he’s going to call for the police, for help, but he’s in the middle of nowhere, he’s got no signal. So he panics, starts driving, puts his foot down, going faster and faster, hands shaking, eyes flitting from the windscreen to the mirrors but there’s nothing, until suddenly her face is there, she’s in the backseat. He turns to check, screaming and loses control of the car. It’s spinning and then...nothing. By the time a car passes the next morning, it’s too late. He’d managed to drag himself from the car, but no further. She claimed his soul, that of a cheater, like so many others before.”

Ayo paused, signalling it was the end of his story. Before anybody could reply, there was a loud bang, something upstairs went crashing and all four men sat alert.

“Fuck!” Madders found himself pressed up against Ben.

“I thought it was just the four of us?” Ayo said.

“It was...” Dennis stood up, locating his phone and turning on the torch.

“Dennis-” Ayo had his hand, keen to stop him.

“It’s ok, I’m sure it’s nothing, I’ll just go and-”

“Hey bitches!” Caglar Soyuncu and Cengiz Under suddenly appeared, knocking over something else as they came, arm in arm.

“Oh, fuck me, it’s just you two,” Madders threw his head back, now aware that he was gripping Ben’s leg and let go.

“Yeah, we were just chilling but i think we’re going to sleep. We can use your guest room, right Ayo?” Soyuncu asked, grinning, utterly unaware of shocking the four men.

“Yeah, sure, um there’s towels and stuff, make yourselves at home.”

The pair disappeared and Ayo blew out his cheeks. 

“No more stories, they get me too on edge.”

Before anyone could answer, the power came back on, lights making them all squint and the music playing again. 

“Doesn’t really work when the power’s all back on...” Dennis shrugged.

Ben and Madders hadn’t separated that much and Ben’s hand was lingering on the sofa. The Belgian caught on.

“We should go to bed,” he signalled to Ayo.

“But I-”

“You, me and this cape remember,” he pulled him closer, lips meeting so he could whisper, “Private time for these two as well.”

“You two are welcome to stay, you can sleep in here or the other guest room. Breakfast in the morning!” practically dragged out of the room by his cape he followed the Belgian and they disappeared.

Finally alone, no prying eyes, no music. It was just the two of them. 

“I saw your goal celebration in the Europa game last week,” Ben let his hand drop down further, fingertips close enough to brush a shoulder..

“Oh, yeah?” the blonde shrugged.

“The C you made...”

“I-” Ben silenced him with the touch of a finger.

“I know I didn’t handle leaving very well but there was so much going on. So much change.”

Madders stayed silent, afraid to say what was running through his head. 

Are you thinking about the last time, your lips all over me?

“Tonight’s been good...like before.” was the reply he settled on.

“Not entirely like before. Alone in somebody else’s house, we’d usually be half naked by now...”

“Is that what you want?”

“You don’t?”

“Chilly, I always want this. Want you.”

“I’m right here...”

He made the first move, but Madders fell straight into his arms, a tangle of lips and limbs and need.

***

Upstairs, Dennis had Ayo pinned to the bed, making him come good on the promise of keeping the cape up. The Spaniard interrupted the kissing.

“Think they’re getting back together?”

“You’re seriously asking now?” the Belgian pointed to his naked state, frowning, “I fucking hope so, that way I can have your undivided attention back and he’ll stop interrupting our nights together.”

Ayo smiled, making his apology felt with his lips and forgetting about the potential hook-up on his sofa downstairs.

***

Hands down each other’s pants, too desperate to get naked immediately, they were breathy, moaning and making quite a lot of noise.

“Shh, do you want them to know this is what we’re doing!”

“Ben, I think they know. Besides, they’re doing exactly the same thing.” Madders returned to kissing him, nibbling his neck.

“Hmm, not quite. They don’t have a whip!” Ben cracked it mischievously against the midfielder’s thigh.

**Author's Note:**

> If you got this far, thank you! It just sort of spawned a life of its own with spooky season so close. I've also not finished anything i've tried to write since summer so it was nice to do this. Still sad about splitting up this bromance. I've got a couple of things drafted for the actual move to Chelsea, so pre this, but just haven't finished them. Consider this a flash forward.


End file.
